Zephyr, a San Francisco real estate brokerage, found a crafty way to milk mobile for leads

San Francisco-based brokerage Zephyr may have found a crafty way to tap mobile for leads.

Listing search apps are a dime a dozen these days, so brokers can find it challenging to generate new business off their branded mobile products.

But Zephyr may be able to hop that hurdle by nestling itself into a bundle of neighborhood information apps.

In partnership with Zephyr, real estate app developer Urban Living Marketing has rolled out 20 apps, each of which delivers local color and information for the San Francisco neighborhood that it’s named after, along with local listings provided by Zephyr.

The apps are part of Urban Living Marketing’s line of “Neighbrhds” apps, which also cover communities in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

“We immediately recognized the value of Neighbrhd’s apps and partnering with them was a natural fit for us,” said Melody Foster, director of marketing and web development for Zephyr, in a statement. “Many talk about delivering local content and information, but few do it so well as these neighborhood-specific apps.”

Neighbrhds offers companies the option to “sponsor” their apps for select neighborhoods or an entire city. The company’s website says common uses and features of sponsorships include adding your social posts into the apps’ community feeds, adding a page for information on your products and adding a page with your business information.

Neighbrhds says its apps are “designed to deliver relevant content to local users and offers a nonintrusive way to get your content and marketing information in their hands.”

The app’s curated social media feed features posts from local businesses and organizations — including Zephyr, of course — serving up a stream of local murmurings and happenings that look like pared-down versions of the feeds curated by neighborhood information app CO Everywhere.

Users can tap from a drop-down menu to see local restaurants, bars, shopping, coffee shops and transportation options. But appearing above those categories is a “properties for sale” tab.

Listings show price and remarks along with an “email for info” button that generates an email to Zephyr.